The President of the Regional Government, Miguel Albuquerque, has expressed serious reservations about meeting the deadline for the arrival of the second aerial means to reinforce the Regional Civil Protection Service (SRPC), set for the beginning of July, blaming the change in the tutelage of the Internal Administration in the Government of the Republic.
“We, at the moment, are quite worried,” he said, referring to the interruption in the functioning of the national Executive following the entry into office of a new Minister of Internal Affairs. “I would like the helicopter to arrive here on the 1st of July, but the new holder still has to find out about the issues and we have to resume this process,” he warned.
Albuquerque recalled that the commitment to provide a second firefighting helicopter had been made by the former Secretary of State for Civil Protection, Paulo Ribeiro, and by the previous minister in charge. “It is very important for us that the commitment that had been made was fulfilled within the planned timings as this is a big concern at the moment. Due to the timings, there was no time to open a new tender and so it was agreed that an Air Force helicopter would be placed at our disposal in Madeira.”
Less than a month before the deadline and with new officials in the Internal Administration still taking office, Albuquerque fears that the deadline will slip. Conculding he said “I want to resolve this situation as soon as possible.”
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
